The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.

Loading ...

Loading ...

This story appears in the {{article.article.magazine.pretty_date}} issue of {{article.article.magazine.pubName}}. Subscribe

There has been a lot of confusion surrounding this weekend's preview of Bungie's next MMOFPSWhateverItIs Destiny. We were shown a lot of concept art and told about big ideas the company has for the title, including a decade-long release cycle which would run at least through the end of the next console generation.

But what was not talked about were specific release times and platforms, and that led gaming outlets to go on a PR hunt to find out any detail they could about either one. What we're left with are still a lot of questions, but at least one notion has been proven false. We won't see Destiny released in 2013. Not in the calendar year, and not in the fiscal year, as the two are one in the same for Activision. Here's the official quote:

"Activision has not included [Destiny's] launch in its 2013 outlook and there should be no speculation or expectation of a different result."

This contradicts early reports that the game could be released as soon as the fall on current generation consoles, and it also goes against the original deal Bungie struck with Activision that promised releases in 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019, with even years devoted to substantial "expansions" of past content. It seems that timeline will have to be shifted forward, probably by at least a year.

Many were confused about how the game was possibly going to be released by the end of the year when Bungie was barely willing to show gameplay footage today. To imagine the final product would be ready in eight to ten months required more than a stretch of the imagination. By releasing this information, they're telling fans, and investors, not to expect anything this fall other than the usual Call of Duty money shower.

This still leaves the question about which systems Destiny is being developed for. Original reports said that it was being fashioned for both current gen and future consoles (and maybe PC), but there's nothing confirmed yet. It's likely that they'll wait until Sony and Microsoft announce their new systems, along with when they'll be released, in order to start doling out that information. We could indeed find a "Twilight Princess" scenario where the game is released on both new and old consoles, but does Bungie have that in them? The project seems ambitious enough without having to worry about designing a game for both the last generation and new generation of consoles, not to mention the PC release that many are crying for. And notice that of course, no one is mentioning the poor Wii U...

From what we know about the game, I don't think there are many who would even want it released in 2013, given its current state. An ambitious project like this will obviously need a lot of time to develop. In an age when games are constantly being delayed, I expect that might indeed happen to Destiny more than a few times as Bungie encounters new challenges along the way.